Civil War Union Brevet Brigadier General. A member of the prominent Adams family, he was an 1856 graduate of Harvard University, and was practicing law when the Civil War started. At age 26 he volunteered for the Union Army, and was commissioned as 1st Lieutenant of Company H, 1st Massachusetts Volunteer Cavalry on December 19, 1861. He served with his company as it fought in South Carolina and in the September 1862 Antietam Campaign. Promoted to Captain and commander of Company H on October 30, 1862, he directed the unit during its participation in the June-July 1863 Gettysburg Campaign, and fought in the heavy cavalry clash at Aldie, Virginia on June 17, 1863. On July 15, 1864 he was commissioned as Lieutenant Colonel, and was assigned to be second in command of the 5th Massachusetts (Colored) Volunteer Cavalry. The regiment fought in the Siege of Petersburg, Virginia, and Charles F. Adams eventually rose to Colonel and commander (being commissioned on February 15, 1865). He was brevetted Brigadier General, US Volunteers on March 13, 1865 for "distinguished gallantry and efficiency at the battles of Secessionville, South Carolina, South Mountian and Antietam, Maryland, and for meritorious services during the war", saw the war though to its end, and resigned due to ill health on August 1, 1865. He was a member of the Massachusetts Railroad Commission after his war service, and served as President of the Union Pacific Railroad from 1884 to 1890. His father was American Diplomat and Congressman Charles Francis Adams, his grandfather was 6th United States President John Quincy Adams, and his great-grandfather was 2nd United States President John Adams. His brothers were prominent historians Brooks Adams and Henry B. Adams.

Civil War Union Brevet Brigadier General. A member of the prominent Adams family, he was an 1856 graduate of Harvard University, and was practicing law when the Civil War started. At age 26 he volunteered for the Union Army, and was commissioned as 1st Lieutenant of Company H, 1st Massachusetts Volunteer Cavalry on December 19, 1861. He served with his company as it fought in South Carolina and in the September 1862 Antietam Campaign. Promoted to Captain and commander of Company H on October 30, 1862, he directed the unit during its participation in the June-July 1863 Gettysburg Campaign, and fought in the heavy cavalry clash at Aldie, Virginia on June 17, 1863. On July 15, 1864 he was commissioned as Lieutenant Colonel, and was assigned to be second in command of the 5th Massachusetts (Colored) Volunteer Cavalry. The regiment fought in the Siege of Petersburg, Virginia, and Charles F. Adams eventually rose to Colonel and commander (being commissioned on February 15, 1865). He was brevetted Brigadier General, US Volunteers on March 13, 1865 for "distinguished gallantry and efficiency at the battles of Secessionville, South Carolina, South Mountian and Antietam, Maryland, and for meritorious services during the war", saw the war though to its end, and resigned due to ill health on August 1, 1865. He was a member of the Massachusetts Railroad Commission after his war service, and served as President of the Union Pacific Railroad from 1884 to 1890. His father was American Diplomat and Congressman Charles Francis Adams, his grandfather was 6th United States President John Quincy Adams, and his great-grandfather was 2nd United States President John Adams. His brothers were prominent historians Brooks Adams and Henry B. Adams.

Bio by: RPD2